You REALLY have to wonder what the balletomanes in Saint Petersburg have to say about this. Why isn't Ekaterina Kondaurova elevated to at least First Soloist status, let alone Principal status? (This especially in light of Kondaurova's triumphant performance in Swan Lake around two weeks ago.)

I suppose in our heart of hearts we all knew this would happen. What angers me is that it has happened under Fateyev's (albeit temporary) directorship. When I heard that Vaziev was going, I held some hope that current casting decisions and in particular the meteoric rise of Somova, would be reversed. Sadly Mr Fateyev shares the total lack of taste of his predecessor.

It isn't easy to get to principal level in the Kirov, indeed the company now boasts a mere eight, one of whom dances almost exclusively abroad, one who rarely gets on stage anywhere and a third who has been known to ration her appearances. The Bolshoi also has eight female principals, none of whom are dead wood, but their brightest star, Natalia Osipova, is not yet among them.

Apparently excellence isn't rewarded in St Petersburg, if it was it would be Ekaterina Osmolkina promoted today to a rank that included Irina Zhelonkina. What makes me angry is that this is so very symptomatic of 'New Russia' where what I call Trash and Flash is the order of the day. I'll admit that there were anomalies back in Soviet days such as Fedicheva, the mistress of a high ranking official (though still worth ten Somovas), but the great ones rose to the top. On my first visit to the Kirov in Leningrad at the height of the Brezhnev era I saw among others, Kolpakova, Sizova and Osipenko, their very names are now legendary. How dare that gang of poltroons running the company today sully the memory of the greats of the past whilst ignoring the shining talents within the company today to promote a dancer whose only dubious merit is throwing her legs to the ceiling. The shades of Pavlova and Karsavina must be weeping today.

Well, I don't know about Karsavina et al. and shedding tears. Faced with the shenanigans in the Imperial Theatre, I would imagine she had quite a sense of humour - there were ways to ballerina rank in the 19th Century, that also involved throwing one's legs about, although not necessarily skywards.

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